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My dream though is to see one of the streaming studios develop a period mini-series set in the 1950s, adapting Fleming's early Bond novels and Horowitz's.
I agree that’s the main thing, but it’d be quite a cool novelty to see one actor cover all of Fleming’s territory somehow. It’d add a little more sentiment for the viewers I think. I’d love to see a talented youngblood begin in Ian Fleming’s CR, go through all of it and end as an older spy with TMWTGG.
Considering there are Bond fans that don’t even care for/haven’t read the novels, this idea, which crops up time and time again doesn’t seem viable to me. Commercially it’s a really hard sell and at the end of the day that’s what it comes down to.
I know - that’s why I said it’s probably not going to happen. Just my dream scenario.
I won't be surprised if it happens, but I'm unlikely to be onboard with that film if it does. Outside Memento – and to a degree even that one – I find his films a massive chore to get through.
Ugh, expanded storylines is the worst case scenario, IMO. The fact that the films were standalones was one of the reasons I liked them in the first place.
But neither Sopranos, Breaking Bad, nor GOT were running in parallel with a cinematic incarnation. Industry people I’ve spoken to about this tend to feel, as I do, that it muddies the IP. The reason Bond remains one of the most valuable is precisely because it hasn’t splintered and inevitably watered down its value. Unlike most IP’s out there Bond is quite unique as he is the IP where most properties are ‘worlds’ that lend themselves to expansion.
I still personally don’t think there’s a huge appetite for it, which isn’t to say they couldn’t make it work - they could - but commercially I don’t see it stacking up for them in the long term.
One example is the Young Indiana Jones series, which occupied the Indy landscape in the early 1990s. Eventually, WB got back to making films. Sherlock Holmes has of course had dozens of adaptations in both formats, even of the same stories.
A 60-year run of total EON control over the product (save a couple of rogue films) is an exception legacy. Maybe add a Nolan or Villeneuve trilogy to that in this new decade. But surely Fleming's novels deserve revisiting on the screen (big or small) set in their original period. I think enough time has passed that it wouldn't impact the original films' identity.
Where I think it will go: I genuinely don't think it'll be massively different to be honest. I think those hoping for a return to the Brosnan era will be disappointed. I think they'll still have the same sort of arty, prestigious name feel, the next guy might play it a bit lighter but I think he'll still be a layered character, and there will still be more character drama than in the other films.
I just hope they realise that you can have a fleshed out, real James Bond with an actual character arc and not have that arc specifically related to the mission he's on. Like in GF, the book, there's that stuff about him struggling with killing and wondering if he's going soft. But that's just something that's going on while he's on the mission. It isn't because the Mexican he killed was actually an old friend or his long lost cousin or some bollocks.
Basically, I think more character stuff can only ever be a good thing, but the films being personal doesn't mean the mission always has to be personal.
SP came close to be fair. I loved that we had the fleshed out and real seeming Craig Bond on the next stage of his character arc (now growing tired/disillusioned of killing), but in a film with a bulletproof gadget packed Aston Martin and a scrap with a massive henchman on an implausibly old school train whilst wearing a tuxedo. You can wrap the character stuff up in an old school Flemingesque adventure. Bond having character doesn't mean the film itself has to be dour and gritty and it shouldn't mean the mission itself is related to him personally (that's where SP fumbled it, it was all going so well until Brofeld).
I hear you. I wonder if such a concept (and HBO would be ideal) would work concurrently with the film series. Almost certainly the films would not want to adapt the same books/characters as the TV series...and we're in a bit of a gray area with Blofeld et al there now.
64's Goldfinger has a similar but better plot than the novel, and when you strip out Barry's music, Adam's designs, Connery's acting... you're kind of just left with something similar... but worse. I'd just watch the film every time.
:)
It would, yes. But most likely worse! :) They made those choices and hired those Oscar-winning creatives for a reason. And would Goldfinger set in 1959 really feel all that different to us in the 21st century than Goldfinger set in 1964?
I do find the Toby Stephens adaptations interesting because they make you appreciate what Eon added to these stories.
But I don't think EON would allow it. We were talking in the radio adaptations thread about why they weren't available comercially, and whether it'd be a good idea to do original audio dramas with the old Bond actors. A member on here revealed that a commercial audio drama company that do stuff like Doctor Who audios with the old actors wanted to do Bond. They were going to adapt FRWL and had contracts ready and everything, but EON got cold feet at the last minute because they were worried it'd hurt DVD sales of the films. That's the only reason they were able to do the radio adaptations, they're just radio, no commercial release.
If that's how they feel about something as niche as audio dramas that would only appeal to massive nerds like us, then I really doubt they'd greenlight any sort of Bond TV show.
That’s why it’s a difficult sell, in my opinion. With something as recognisable as Bond, a global heritage brand, you’d have to give it a unique spin. Simply saying ‘we’re going to faithfully adapt the novels’ isn’t enough of a reason for the TV money men.
With a lot of successful TV series, some you outlined above, they’re often a first time adaptation, a modern update (period or technology), or begin as a one-off with a unique authorial voice.
The latest BBC version of Dracula is pretty typical of how these things work.
The money men would probably be fine with it as it'd be pretty sure to sell! :)
But yeah, I think creatively there isn't much there, and even the fans who want it would probably watch a couple and realise they prefer the films!
:)
Fleming's novels are great because of the prose and the pure pleasure of reading them: stripping that away and putting them on the small screen without the witty lines and beautiful sets and music of the films means you kind of have the worst of both worlds and the strengths of neither.
Done in the style of Mike Mignola I think would be quite striking, and not childish.
Could be nicely ghoulish and sadistic in that way Fleming liked. Very Aeon Flux
:D
An adult orientated animated James Bond would be very welcome.
A mouth watering prospect considering the Fleming novels could all be faithfully adapted....
This would be great and I'd be happy if EON focused on this for 5 years instead of the films. A period set tv series using all the original books in chronological order. Awesome.
HBO or Netflix would be the obvious partners.
How would you feel if they did it but made the transitions from novel to novel fluid, perhaps seeding future events? For example it’s called ‘James Bond of the Secret Service’ and begins with the CR operation but future elements are seeded, if only in short snippets of conversation or actions, Bond picks up a newspaper featuring a article on Hugo Drax, for example. Or would you want it by the book, so to speak?
That'll be like Archer, only serious.
I'd watch that.
One person’s ‘faithful’ is another’s ‘sacrilege’ though.
If they do it for TV, they should get Matt Weiner.
Definitely!
Yes but to bad he got in trouble.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2017/11/09/mad-men-creator-matthew-weiner-accused-harassment-former-writer-kater-gordon/850454001/
Oh, hadn't heard about this.
There are other great producers to pick from though, should it happen at some point.
I think if this were to ever happen, it would be pointless remaking the faithful adapted novels, which are pretty much set in the time they were written anyway (Dr. No, FRWL, GF, TB, OHMSS). It wouldn't give us anything that different.
Which begs me to ask the question yet again - why don't EON just use up every last part of the books now that hasn't already been used, to put this finally to bed (we all know now what books they are - DAF, MR, TSWLM, YOLT and TMWTGG).
Under Cubby's watch, I think this is what he originally planned going forward, as Maibaum was at work nicely adapting the Fleming leftovers in the 80's, starting with FYEO, then OP, then TLD, and finally LTK.
Fleming's LALD is a perfect example of a novel that has now been used to death - first with the film itself (70's trend, loosely based, using mainly characters and locations), then key leftover scenes used in FYEO and LTK.
I panned out in another thread how these leftover books could easily be incorporated and used over at least 3 further films - a storyline cleverly using both DAF and MR for the first film, then the next film using TSWLM and YOLT, and the final film with TMWTGG (continuing on from where YOLT ended).
This could all be easily plotted out over a 3 part arc triology, as we know this floats EON's boat these days, instead of struggling with original scripts by committee that are usually fairly dire in comparison to anything Fleming wrote.